Van Heutsz was sent to Aceh as a subaltern in 1873 and won fast promotions. By 1887 he was chief of staff, and in 1899 he was appointed military and civil governor of Aceh; he managed to subdue the kingdom in a year. As governor-general, van Heutsz brought the rest of the outer islands under direct control and thereafter was able to attract international investors. He introduced primary schools in the villages and made instruction in the Indonesian language (a dialect of Malay) compulsory.